Tottenham debacle continues with SA Tourism minister’s irregular appointments

At the Tourism Portfolio Committee today, it was revealed that the three South African Tourism Board members that replaced those who recently resigned have been irregularly appointed by the Minister, Lindiwe Sisulu.

“By her own admission, the three resignations were submitted at the beginning of February on a Wednesday and she replaced the resigned Board members four days later on the Saturday,” Manny de Freitas – DA Shadow Minister of Tourism – said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to the Tourism Act, the Minister should have published a minimum 30 days’ notice in the Government Gazette and in two national newspapers inviting nominations BEFORE appointing Board members. And the same must be done after Board members have been appointed, said De Freitas.

“This means that the prescripts and processes stipulated in the Act were not followed by the Minister. This potentially means that the three newly appointed members may well have been illegally appointed and that any decisions and resolutions made by the Board since the resignations may all be nullified,” said the DA MP.

Three SAT Board members resigned after the proposed Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship deal was made public: Enver Duminy, Ravi Nadasen and Rosemary Anderson.

“The Minister claims that she needed to urgently replace the 3 Board members to ensure that there is a quorum so that the Tottenham Hotspur matter could be discussed. The Minister failed to explain why this was urgent in the first place, particularly considering that the Tottenham deal was only a proposal with no deadline attached to it,” argued De Freitas.

De Freitas has requested an inquiry be launched.